Barney, I don't want to belabor the point but when you suggest that anything , including golf course areas, ranks inside or outside the "top 50", you are by definition creating a ranking. Moreover, when you thereafter propose a top 10, you are doing a ranking. Its OK, just realize the implications. It is also instructive that you concede that you haven't played many of the courses that define the excellence, or lack thereof , of the areas in question. I suspect that is why the ratings systems, flawed as they may be, seek a numerical ranking so that they can compile data from a variety of "experts", none of them who have seen the bulk of the courses under consideration. Another disclaimer, I was a member of the Golfweek panel but withdrew.